Miller: Ducks, Russians re-unite for charity game

July 3, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Former Ducks teammates, Sean Hill (left) and Mikhail Shtalenkov, were part of the franchise's inaugural season. Monday, they participated in a charity game at Anaheim ICE. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The Ducks alumni team also included the likes of Chris O'Sullivan, J.F. Jomphe, Steve Shields, Sean Pronger, Kevin Sawyer and Todd Marchant. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Alexei Kasatonov, the first All-Star in Ducks history, takes a break with his Russian teammates. Kasatonov, 52, is now GM of a team in the KHL. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The event raised money for the Ducks Foundation, the team's official charity branch. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The rink at Anaheim ICE holds roughly 800. An estimated crowd of 1,000 showed Monday, including several fans rooting for the Russians. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov said of his five seasons in Anaheim: "This was the best place I ever played the game.” PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Former Duck Kevin Sawyer signs an autograph during a youth camp held before the game Monday night at Anaheim ICE. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Todd Marchant, who now works in player development for the Ducks, was among the alumni skaters. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sean Pronger, J.F. Jomphe and Jeff Friesen (left to right) during a break in the charity game. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Wild Wing also made an appearance at the game. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The event eventually drew a standing-room only crowd. PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Former Ducks teammates, Sean Hill (left) and Mikhail Shtalenkov, were part of the franchise's inaugural season. Monday, they participated in a charity game at Anaheim ICE.PHOTO BY DEBORA ROBINSON, THE DUCKS, TEXT BY JEFF MILLER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – His two Olympic gold medals are a nice complement to his five world championships, Alexei Kasatonov bringing great honor to the hammer and sickle and the cause.

For years, he was as much a part of the Soviet Union's national team as the icy mystery that shrouded the group here.

Kasatonov has been decorated for his illustrious lifetime in hockey with, among others, the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the Order of the Badge of Honour.

He was athletic royalty in a political machine, a flag bearer for the Red Army.

On a somewhat lesser note, Kasatonov also was a Duck.

He was, in fact, an NHL All-Star in 1994, the franchise's first ever, the original face of the inaugural team, a veteran who bore immediate fruit for a squad that wore the color of an eggplant.

Two months after he proudly represented them on the NHL's brightest stage, in New York City, no less, the Ducks marked Kasatonov's historic contribution. They traded him away. That's why — and you can look as hard as you'd like — the team's lone All-Star isn't even in the 1993-94 team photo.

It is fitting, then, that Kasatonov said the finest memory of his 55 games as a Duck actually came in practice, on his 34th birthday, when well-known fighter and teammate Todd Ewen hit him in the face.

With a pie.

"For me, it was like strange," Kasatonov said. "First time in my life. Everyone else thought it was funny. (My son) Leo told me, 'Oh, father, I want to be in your place.' He loved pie. Best memory."

His English was broken, but his smile was intact.

Kasatonov, now 52, returned Monday with a team of Russians to play a group of former Ducks at Anaheim Ice. The Russians are touring to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Summit Series.

The event sold out, the Ducks eventually deciding to offer standing-room-only tickets. An estimated 1,000 attended. This was notable since proceeds from the game went to charity, the Ducks Foundation.

Maybe old guys really do rule, even old Russian guys.

"I have a good memory about everything," said Mikhail Shtalenkov, the other former Duck who played for the Russians on Monday. "The team, California, the people around. This was the best place I ever played the game."

Shtalenkov, 46, was here for five seasons, as the backup to goalie Guy Hebert, who still lives nearby.

As he recalled their relationship — "He was a perfect partner to be with. How it's called, tandem?" — Shtalenkov suddenly arrived at a question of his own.

"I heard he might be around," Shtalenkov said. "Why wasn't he playing tonight?"

A Ducks official confirmed that Hebert had been approached about participating but was unavailable because of a previous commitment in New York.

"He's a busy man?" Shtalenkov asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

One of the teams won the game, 8-5, but the final score was about as relevant as Shtalenkov's shoe size.

This event was about remembering back when, back when the Ducks were still fresh, back when Walt Disney Co. owned the team, even back when a Russian had a better chance of walking on the moon than skating in the NHL.

"We had more fighters, more battlers," Kasatonov said of the Ducks' expansion roster. "Everybody understands that first year, it's tough to make playoffs. The first year, more just a show.

"It was a great time. So different for me from Moscow. Here, we participated in parades. There was a lot of Disney stuff going on. Sometimes we played charity games and you'd see someone famous."

He still has a photo at home of all the Ducks dressed as pirates and standing on a ship at Disneyland.

Kasatonov, who is now a general manager in the KHL, wasn't here long but long enough to experience traffic, an earthquake and even wild fires that threatened his Anaheim Hills home.

"Welcome to California!" he said, laughing. "It was unbelievable."

Shtalenkov, a goalie coach in the KHL, wasn't sure what to expect after the Ducks selected him in the fifth round of the 1993 draft.

Nearly 20 years later, he still shakes his head at the paradise he found when he arrived.

"I heard something about California, but I didn't expect the whole place itself," he said. "How it looks, how it's possible to play hockey in a place like this when the sun shines all the time. It's a history. It's a long, long time ago."

But for one night and three periods of running time, the origin of the (once-Mighty) Ducks was a lot closer.

As the two Russians retraced those days, they stood beneath a banner recognizing the franchise's 2007 championship.

A Stanley Cup? For the Ducks? There was a time when that was only a dream, a silly pie-in-the-eye dream.

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